Railway car end structure



Dec. 23, 19.41. A. F. O'CONNOR 2,267,214

RAILWAY CAR END STRUCTURE Filed Sept. 28, 1940 2 Sheets-Sheet l 0 0 O o 0 O a O INVENTOR- 4 A. F. O'CONNOR 2,267,214

RAILWAY CAR END STRUCTURE Filed Sept. 28, 1940 2 Sheets- Sheet 2 I INVENTOR.

Patented Dec. 23, 1941 U NlT ED STATE-S FATE N T F i lC-E 2,267,214 7 :RAEWAY'CAR END .STRUCTURE Arthur OCOnnor, Chicago, 111., assignor to Union Asbestos & Rubber Company, Chicago, 111., a corporationpf Illinois Application September 28, I940, Serial-No.358fl66 9"Claims.

The invention relates to railway cars having sheet metal ends and more particularly to cars having corrugated metal ends, such as box, .refrigerator, coal and gondola cars, and has-for its principal object-the provision of a combined sheet metal end and corner .post structure 'havingagreat strength to resist distortion of the-car end or corner post or both.

The bulging out of the conventional sheet metal end is a common source of annoyance and expense to car owners, this bulging being due principally to the shifting of the lading in the car, due to end shocks to which the car is "subject in switching movements and other .service movements, which cause the car to be .started or stopped too abruptly.

In the present invention the corner post, in combination with-the adjacent vertical margin of the sheet metal end, comprises a box-like vertical beam adapted to resist the forces which tend to bend the corner posts (intermediate their ends) toward each other.

An object of the invention istoprovide arched ties of greatest strength between the angularly disposed arms of the cornerpost. This may be accomplished by applicants method of extending corrugations across the body part of the metal end and extending them around an arched vertical margin of the end, the corrugations extending to and terminating within the edge of said margin, and being in rigidly affixed engagement with one of the arms of the corner post. In this construction the corrugations function as restrained beams adapted to .resist forces which tend to bend the corrugation termediate their ends and provides greater strength than has been heretofore obtained with corrugations which terminate intermediate the opposed corner posts or intermediate the opposed vertical margins of the metal end sheet.

A further object is to provide a sheet metal end in which the corrugations extend to and terminate within the vertical margins of the sheet, without the use of aiseparate strip to finish oiT the corrugated edges, close up the open corrugations in the edge of the sheet, or as a means of attaching the corrugated-edges of the sheet to the car structure.

A further object is to provide a corrugated sheet metal car end which may be made without the use of heavy-duty, expensive presses, such as are now required to form the conventional sheet metal car ends wherein the corrugations are embossed in a fiat plate, with the corrugations terminating in most if not a-llcases short of the margin of the sheet. The corrugations of the :present invention may be formed on .a oorruga'ting machine, eliminating the necessity for heating the sheet, eliminating the need Jfor heating furnaces and providing a sheetand corrugations of uniform thickness throughout. In pressing a corrugations out of a flat sheet the walls of the corrugated portion are thinned out and stresses are set up in the metal, due to stretching, which disadvantage is eliminated in my invention.

A further object is the provision of a sheet metal carend having rounded vertical corners, this shape being of pleasing appearance and in line with the present trend toward streamlining of railway rolling stock generally.

In the drawings:

Fig. '1 is a view in elevation of the left hand half of a car end-showing-one embodiment of the invention, the corrugations being substantially uniform throughout.

Fig. 2 is an elevational View of the right hand half of a car-end showing a modification wherein alternate corrugations are pressed in the sheet, intermediate the full length corrugations.

Fig. 3 is an enlarged, fragmentary, sectional view of the corner post and car end, taken on line 3-3 of Fig. 1.

Fig. 4 is an enlarged, fragmentary, sectional view of the corner post and car end, taken on line 4-11 of Fig. 2.

Fig. 5 is an enlarged, fragmentary, sectional view taken on line :55 of Fig. .2, showing 'a modified corner post and method of securing the endsheet to the post.

Fig. 6 is a sectional view taken on line 66 of Fig. 1.

The drawings show the usual parts of the car, such as the roof .I I, end sill l3, side wall sheet [5, side lining l1 and end lining l8. The corner post 2|, as shown in Figs. 3 and 4, may comprise a vertical member extending from the end sill l3 to the-roof H and may be secured adjacent its ends to the underframe and roof structure in the conventional manner. Corner post 2! may be W-shaped in transverse cross-section, and may comprise angularly disposed members 23 and 25 extending longitudinally and laterally of the car, respectively. Member 23 maybe provided with an angularly disposed flange '21 and member 25 may be provided with angularly disposed flange 29. The car end 3| may comprise a sheet metal plate having a plurality of strengthening corrugations 33 formed therein and extending from a vertical edge of the plate to the opposite vertical edge of the plate.

Car end 3| may be mounted in parallel abutting engagement with the flanges 21-21 of the opposed corner posts 2|-2| and may be secured thereto by means of rivets 35, and may have its opposed vertical margins extending around the corners of the car in the form of an arch 31, with the vertical edges of end 3| in abutting engagement with members 2525 of the opposed corner posts 2|-2|. The vertical edges of car end 3| may be rigidly afiixed throughout their length to members 25-25 by means of welding and it will be seen that the arched portion 31, being secured to the corner post 2| adjacent both vertical extremities of the arched portion of the car end, will produce a corner post structure box-like in transverse cross-section and having great strength to resist the forces which usually tend to bend the posts.

- The preferred embodiment of the car end 3| comprises the forming of corrugations 33 across the entire width or length of a fiat sheet metal plate, after which the opposed margins of the corrugated plate may be turned inwardly on a relatively large radius, with the corrugations extending transversely of the curved margins. In the modified form shown in Figs. 2 and 4 a series of pressed corrugations 39 may be provided in car end 3|, corrugations 39 preferably being of sumcient length whereby their opposed end portions will be in overlying relationship with members 23-23 of the opposed corner posts 2|2|, corrugations 39 thereby functioning as restrained or semi-restrained beams between the corner posts at an end of the car. Corrugations 39 may be of greater depth than the depth of corrugations 33, and their end portions may be tapered as shown in the drawings.

The modified form of corner post 4| (as shown in Fig. may comprise angularly disposed connected members 43 and 45, member 45 being provided with angularly disposed flange 41 adapted as an anchoring means for the adjacent vertical edge of side wall sheet l5. The outer vertical edge of member 43 may be sinuous in contour whereby said edge may fit into the corrugations and register with the general contour of the inside surface of car end 3|, said edge being preferably welded adjacent its abutment with end 3|. The welding of the sinuous edge of member 43, to the corrugated end sheet 3|, is adapted to provide additional reinforcing means for end 3| by preventing the corrugations from spreading away from each other under the stress of forces and blows which the car end may receive in service, thereby materially adding to the strength of a car end not so reinforced. The form of corner post 4| reduces the weight and cost (as compared with the W-shaped post 2|) which is of importance and is in line with the present trend of the railroads toward eliminating every pound of excess weight from their railroad cars; this trend being due to the well founded theory that it costs money to haul every pound of car weight.

Car end 3| may be made in one or more sections.

' Wooden end lining I9 may be secured to the inside of car end 3| by means of wooden nailing strips 49 which may be secured, within the corrugations 33 or 39, by means of bolts 5|, the lining I9 being bolted or nailed to the strips 49. The wooden side lining may be secured v(adjacent the end of car) by nailing same to wooden nailing strip 53 which may be secured to corner post 2| or 4| by means of stud bolts 55, said bolts having their headed ends secured to the corner post in the usual manner of securing stud bolts to metal sheets. The use of stud bolts is preferred with the present invention due to the impracticability of inserting standard bolts through the corner post after the latter is secured to the car end 3|.

The vertical margin of the side wall sheet |5 may be inwardly offset, as indicated at 51, and may be secured to the flange 29 of corner post 2| by riveting or welding, the offset portion of sheet I5 being in overlapping relationship with the flange 29, whereby said side wall sheet l5 and adjacent flange 29 may be in a common plane. The corner post 4| may be used with the car end 3| shown in Fig. 3 and may also be used with the car end shown in Fig. 5, in which latter case a reinforcing or backing member 59 may be secured to the member 43 of the post, in position to engage the adjacent end portion of corrugation 39, whereby a force exerted in a horizontal direction upon corrugation 39 will be transmitted to the corner post, through member 59. Backing member 59 may comprise an angular member extending longitudinally of and affixed to member 43 by welding, as shown in Fig. 5 as 6|, or may be riveted to the member 43, the riveting or welding being preferably done before the post is secured to the car end.

Although the invention has been disclosed in connection with the specific details of preferred embodiments thereof, it is to be understood that such details are not intended to be limitative of the invention except insofar as set forth in the accompanying claims Having described the invention, what I claim as new and desire to secure by Letters Patent is:

1. In a railway car end structure, a vertical corner post comprising angularly disposed arms, a sheet metal end wall having a vertical margin curved inwardly on a radius, the body part of said wall being secured to one arm of said post and the curved margin of said wall being secured to the other arm of said post, said wall being provided with a plurality of corrugations which traverse the end wall and extend to the edge of the curved margin whereby the corrugations function as arched ties between said arms to prevent deflection thereof, the vertical edge of the curved margin being corrugated and having edgewise aflixed abutting engagement with a portion of said other arm, said portion extending in a plane transversely of and damming said corrugations.

1 2. In a railway car end structure, a vertical corner post comprising angularly disposed arms, a sheet metal end wall having a vertical margin curved inwardly on a radius, said wall being secured to one arm of said post and the curved margin of said wall being secured along its outer edge to the other arm of said post, said wall being provided witha plurality of corrugations which traverse the end wall and extend to the edge of the curved margin whereby the corrugations function as arched ties between said arms to prevent deflection thereof, the edge of the curved margin being corrugated and the valleys of the corrugations in said edge being dammed by said other arm of said post, said wall also being provided with a plurality of corrugations the ends of which terminate and merge in said wall adjacent the intersection of the body part and the curved margin of said wall whereby said last mentioned corrugations will function as beams restrained at their ends by said corner post.

3. In a railway car end structure, a vertical corner post comprising angularly disposed arms, a sheet metal end wall having a marginal'fiange curved on a radius, the body part of said wall being secured to one arm of said post and the curved flange of said wall being secured to the other arm of said post, said wall being provided with a plurality of corrugations which traverse the end wall and extend to the edge of said flange whereby the corrugations function as arched ties between said arms to prevent deflection thereof, the edge portion of said flange being substantially perpendicular to the plane of said other arm of said post and being welded thereto, the edge of said flange being corrugated and the valleys of the corrugations in said edge being dammed by said last named arm, the outer apices of the corrugations in said edge being substantially coplanar with the outer vertical boundary of said last named arm.

4. In a railway car end structure, a vertical corner post comprising angularly disposed arms, one of said arms terminating adjacent the side of the car and the other arm terminating adjacent the end of the car, a sheet metal end wall having a marginal flange curved on a radius, the portion of said wall adjacent the intersection of the body part and the curved flange of said wall being secured to the arm which terminates adjacent the end of the car and the edgeof said flange being secured to the other arm, said wall being provided with a plurality of corrugations which traverse the wall and extend to the edge of said flange whereby the corrugations function as arched ties between the arms of the post to prevent deflection thereof, the edge portion of said flange being substantially perpendicular to the plane of and being welded to the arm which terminates adjacent the side of the car, the outer vertical edge of the arm which terminates adjacent the end of the car being sinuous in contour and adapted to fit into the valleys of the corrugations on the inside of the wall, said last named edge being in position to dam the last named valleys.

5. In a railway car end structure, a vertical corner post comprising angularly disposed arms, one of said arms extending in a plane longitudinally of the car and terminating in a sinuous edge adjacent the end of the car, and the other arm extending in a plane transversely of the car and terminating in a flanged portion adjacent to and parallel with the side of the car, a sheet metal end wall having a marginal flange curved on a radius, said wall being provided with a plurality of corrugations which traverse the wall and extend to the edge of said flanged portion, said edge being corrugated and being in perpendicular abutting engagement with the arm which extends transversely of the car, the

'of said wall andtransversely of said corrugations.

6. The structure of claim 1 wherein said angularly disposed arms are each provided with longitudinal marginal flanges, the body part of.

said wall being afiixed to the longitudinal marginal flange of said one arm of said post, the longitudinal marginal flange of said other arm of said post being adapted as a mounting for securing the side sheet of the car to said post.

'7. The structure of claim 1 wherein the corrugations within the curved margin are of substantially constant depth throughout said margm.

8. In a railway car end structure, a vertical corner post comprising angularly disposed arms, a sheet metal end wall having a vertical margin curved inwardly on a radius, said wall being secured to one arm of said post adjacent the intersection of the body part of said wall and the curved margin, said margin being secured along its edge to the other arm of said post, said margin being provided with a plurality of transverse corrugations extending throughout the curved portion and terminating at said edge adapted to function as arched ties between said arms to prevent deflection of said post, the edge of said margin being corrugated and the valleys of the corrugations in said edge being dammed by said other arm and having edgewise abutting afflxed engagement with a portion of said other arm which extends in a plane transversely of said last named corrugations.

9. In a railway car end structure, a vertical corner post comprising angularly disposed arms, a sheet metalend wall having a vertical margin curved on a radius, said wall being secured to one arm of said post adjacent the intersection of the body part of said wall and the curved margin, said margin being secured along its edge to the other arm of said post, said margin being provided with a plurality of transverse corrugations extending throughout the curved portion and terminating at said edge adapted to function as arched ties between said arms to prevent deflection of said post, the edge of said margin being corrugated and the valleys of the corrugations in said edge being dammed by said other arm and having edgewise abutting afiixed en-' minating adjacent the intersection of the body part of said wall and the curved margin.

- ARTHUR F. OCONNOR. 

